All purpose receptacles, such as buckets, pails or cans, are used as containers for a variety of consumer goods, including solids and liquids. Generally, the receptacles are not manufactured by the provider of the goods. In fact, one entity may manufacture the receptacle, another may manufacture the goods to be contained within the receptacle, and a third may place the goods into the receptacles.
In some instances, it is desired that the receptacle be of the type including a handle to allow the consumer to easily transport the receptacle. Difficulty arises, however, in working with a receptacle having such a handle attached thereto in operations such as filling, lidding, and labelling the receptacle. If the handle is not properly oriented, it could interfere with the filling, lidding or labelling operations. Also, for lids having a fitting, such as an aperture therethrough or a pouring spout, it is desirable to place the fitting in a certain radial orientation with respect to the handle so that the consumer may pour the contents of the receptacle by holding the handle and base of the receptacle and tipping the receptacle. Further, it is desirable to place labels in the same orientation with respect to the handle for shelf display purposes, and to place directions or product warnings in plain view to the consumer. The importance of the orientation of a handled bucket for labelling purposes is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,636,278. Though this labeller is manually loaded, the operator must be certain to load the bucket in the proper orientation. Therefore, to accommodate further processing, it is desirable to provide a method for orienting handled receptacles prior to such processing.
It is common for open receptacles to be provided from the manufacturer in a stacked or nested orientation. When nested, the handles are also usually stacked and oriented in substantially the same direction. However, there is no assurance that the handle orientation will remain constant while stacked or when denested, either manually or automatically, as is described herein.
Often, it is not practical to remove a handle attached to the receptacle or to add a handle after the receptacle has been tilled, lidded, and labeled. Such removal may be self-defeating as well, as there is no assurance that the receptacle is properly oriented with respect to machines used in future processing, such as lidding and labeling operations, if the handle is removed. Also, though the presence of the handle may be perceived as causing inconveniences, it may be beneficial in these processes, such as in guiding the receptacle through an automated machine, for example. Finally, removal and replacement of the handle results in increased costs associated with any of these processes by requiring additional resources and consuming additional time.
A variety of automatic machines are available for denesting stacked receptacles. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,299,914, for example, an apparatus is disclosed which denests stacked cups, as may be found in beverage dispensing machines, for example. The denesting apparatus of U.S. Pat. No. 3,299,914 includes an ejecting and separating means for denesting the cups and placing each individual onto a guide positioning the cup below the liquid dispenser discharge.
Another automatic beverage dispensing system having a denesting mechanism is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,530,907. In this invention, stacked cups are dropped from a cup dispenser by use of a mechanism comprising a motor and a cup-drop control. Each cup is placed on a conveyor belt for movement under a liquid dispenser for filling. Guides are provided on the conveyor belt to define the locations upon which the cups are to be dropped.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,042,540 discloses a food processing system in which trays residing on a conveyor belt are automatically filled with food. At the beginning of the operation, nested trays of a specific shape are denested by a conventional package or tray denester and placed in apertures in the conveyor belt. Because the apertures are complimentarily shaped for use with the trays, the trays remain in the same orientation throughout all operations in which the trays remain on the conveyor system.
An automatic cup filling and lidding apparatus is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,492,785. Prior to filling and lidding the cups, stacked cups are singularly denested into openings on a turntable. The turntable openings are designed to accommodate cups of a particular size and shape.
The aforementioned receptacle denesters illustrate that it is known in the art to provide a mechanism whereby individual receptacles can be separated and ejected from the remainder of the stack. However, none of these references specifically deal with a receptacle having a handle attached near the lip of the receptacle. Such a handle may interfere with the separating and ejecting mechanisms of these patents, in part because each ,denester drops the bottom receptacle in a vertically oriented stack onto a conveyor system. Therefore, it is desired to provide a denester which accommodates a receptacle having a handle attached thereto.
In view of receptacles having handles, the aforementioned denesters exhibit another shortcoming. Specifically, unless the receptacle is of a specific shape, the prior art denesters do not provide a means for orienting the receptacles in the same direction. As previously mentioned, in many subsequent operations such as filling, lidding and labelling, it is desired that all receptacles be in the same orientation with respect to the processing machine. The prior art denesters have depended on the shape of the receptacle coupled with the shape of guides or apertures on a conveyor belt or turntable to orient the receptacles. It is therefore desirable to provide a denester for use with handled receptacles which, when ejected, orients the receptacles in the same direction with respect to the handle, irrespective of the size or shape of the receptacle.
Yet another shortcoming of the denester systems is the utilization of a particularly configured conveyor means. A conveyor means specifically designed for a particular receptacle is more expensive to manufacture, repair and maintain. Also, because it is possible that future operations, such as filling, lidding and labelling, are accomplished with separate machines, the use of a unique conveyor system may require customization of the particular machine or may require transference of the receptacles from the unique conveyor system to another conveyor system. Use of a general purpose conveyor means will eliminate or reduce customization required of such a machine. Therefore, it is desirable to provide a denesting and orienting apparatus which places the denested, oriented receptacles on a general purpose conveyor means without precluding the use of a specialized conveyor means. Also, it is desirable to provide an apparatus for denesting and orienting handle receptacles which is inexpensive to manufacture, repair and maintain.
A method for radially orienting receptacles is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,804,024. Substantially closed receptacles, such as lidded barrels having an aperture in the lid, are radially oriented by rotating the barrel until the lid's aperture is detected to be in the proper position for filling of the barrel through the aperture. This invention does not address the problems specific to denesting and orienting a substantially open receptacle having a handle attached thereto. Because the receptacle may need to be oriented prior to having a lid thereon, such as is needed for labelling of the receptacle, it is therefore desirable to provide an apparatus and method for orienting substantially open containers.
One known system used to orient receptacles comprising an open container and having a pivotable handle attached to the upper portion thereof uses a mechanism similar to that of U.S. Pat. No. 4,804,024. Specifically, a receptacle is placed on a rotatable disk which rotates the receptacle until it is in the proper position. For this orienter, the receptacle is expected to have two radially opposed protrusions to which the pivotable handle is connected. Pins, or guides, are properly positioned above the disk for engagement of the receptacle's protrusions when the receptacle is in the proper radial orientation. Such a system is disadvantageous in that it is slow, orienting receptacles at a rate of only 6 to 12 receptacles a minute, for stacked receptacles must first be separated, then moved to the rotatable disk for orientation, and then moved off the rotatable disk for further processing of the receptacle. This system also interrupts conveyance of the receptacle such that if the receptacle has already been filled, the contents are apt to spill either during the interruption or during the spinning of the receptacle. The system is also limited in requiring that the receptacle have protrusions to identify the proper orientation of the receptacle. It is therefore desirable to provide an orienter which is fast,, efficient, and does not interrupt the conveyance of the receptacle. It is also desirable to provide an orienter which is capable of orienting handled receptacles without requiring that the receptacle have protrusions thereon.
Yet another orienter system uses a conveyor system comprising two adjacent V-belts, with one running V-belt running faster than the other. Placement of the receptacle on top of both V-belts causes the receptacle to rotate. A guide rail is properly positioned to guide the receptacle without further spinning thereof when the receptacle is in the proper orientation. Such an orienter is inefficient. The orienter may also stress the receptacle when not permitted to rotate as the varying speed V-belts continue to rotate under the receptacle when the receptacle's radial motion is stopped. Similarly, the previously discussed orienter also places orienting forces on the receptacle after the receptacle is oriented as the rotatable disk continues to rotate under the receptacle after it is oriented. Though the V-belts or rotatable disk may be comprised of materials over which the receptacle may slide when its rotation is stopped, such sliding may mark or scratch the receptacle. Therefore, it is desired to provide an orienter which does not utilize an expensive conveyor system and which does not stress or damage the receptacle by continuing to apply an orienting force after the receptacle is already oriented.
Another shortcoming present in prior art denesting and orienting systems is the inability to orient subsequent conveying systems onto which the oriented receptacles are placed in any angle in relation to the denester/orienter machine. In many instances, the path of conveyance away from the denester/orienter must be a continuation of the major axis of the denester machine. Such a limitation results in the consumption of invaluable floorspace and may preclude the use of the machine in certain facilities. Therefore, it is desirable to provide a denester/orienter capable of placement of the oriented buckets onto a conveyor system which does not necessarily have its path of conveyance in line with the denester/orienter.
Finally, it is important to provide a denester/orienter which does not harm the receptacle during the denesting and orienting procedures. Many receptacles have preprinted labels, marks, or information printed thereon, and scratching of the receptacle surface or deformation or disfiguration of the receptacle results in a scrap receptacle and therefore increases costs associated with the handling of such receptacles.